But I found myself thinking how many so-called Christmas songs (many of which, like the various iterations of "Jingle Bells," have nothing do to with Christmas) are snow- or winter-themed and are utterly incongruous when you celebrate Christmas in Florida and it's typically 75°F and sunny.

Legit Christmas songs too - eg hymns such as In the Bleak Midwinter

Part of the problem is that most of traditional Anglophonic Christmas canon was written during the 'Little Ice Age' and either in the NW of the US, or in Britain - so snow was ubiquitous at that time of year in that era. Add in cultural icon Prince Albert - who, along with Dickens, turned Christmas from a fairly minor feast to the big one of the year - was from the middle of Germany where it was very cold in December (and had pine trees, which weren't native to Britain) and so we Brits imported a ton of those traditions and then exported them to the US (which also got traditions direct from central Europe).

And it doesn't have to be Florida - all the snow stuff linked with Christmas made little sense to me in Southern England in the 1990s, when we got little snow, and then normally some time after Christmas. Sure, it certainly isn't warm (December average high here is 45, with the average low 37), but the image you get from the songs is that everything is frozen solid or under a load of snow. Band Aid's nonsense line "and there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time" is even worse as the Christmas before (1983) didn't have snow at Christmas time in the UK and, while that was uncommon at the time, the White Christmases (which can just be one flake) in the years around it were mostly rather localised (1980 the exception) to upland areas where people (especially not trendy musicians) don't tend to live - and even if not having snow at Christmas was a problem, it was one that London has too!

As for warm-weather songs - even Aussies view these warm-weather 'Christmas' songs as terrible:

When my dad was alive he always thought that some artists used to ruin popular Christmas songs just by adding a few words or especially when Gospel artists would extend a certain note and add their traditional ooh ooh to it. He would call them disrespecting God, but to me personally I think it ads their own signature to the song.

Just like adding an intro to a song or putting it part of a medley makes the listening to a song more enjoyable as it makes it interesting to see how each artist comes up with his or her own way to sing a popular song.

BTW, I cannot wait to hear Eric Clapton's new Christmas Album as he has a neat White Christmas video to go with it of a young boy (who is modeled after him) gets his wish: A guitar for Christmas!

But I found myself thinking how many so-called Christmas songs (many of which, like the various iterations of "Jingle Bells," have nothing do to with Christmas) are snow- or winter-themed and are utterly incongruous when you celebrate Christmas in Florida and it's typically 75°F and sunny.

Legit Christmas songs too - eg hymns such as In the Bleak Midwinter

Part of the problem is that most of traditional Anglophonic Christmas canon was written during the 'Little Ice Age' and either in the NW of the US, or in Britain - so snow was ubiquitous at that time of year in that era. Add in cultural icon Prince Albert - who, along with Dickens, turned Christmas from a fairly minor feast to the big one of the year - was from the middle of Germany where it was very cold in December (and had pine trees, which weren't native to Britain) and so we Brits imported a ton of those traditions and then exported them to the US (which also got traditions direct from central Europe).

And it doesn't have to be Florida - all the snow stuff linked with Christmas made little sense to me in Southern England in the 1990s, when we got little snow, and then normally some time after Christmas. Sure, it certainly isn't warm (December average high here is 45, with the average low 37), but the image you get from the songs is that everything is frozen solid or under a load of snow. Band Aid's nonsense line "and there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time" is even worse as the Christmas before (1983) didn't have snow at Christmas time in the UK and, while that was uncommon at the time, the White Christmases (which can just be one flake) in the years around it were mostly rather localised (1980 the exception) to upland areas where people (especially not trendy musicians) don't tend to live - and even if not having snow at Christmas was a problem, it was one that London has too!

As for warm-weather songs - even Aussies view these warm-weather 'Christmas' songs as terrible:

What's worse is the abrupt end to Halloween. On November 1, the Christmas products start popping up in stores, and it's just like they jump into the season ASAP.

As for Christmas music on the radio, my preferred choice is still 93.9 in Chicago, and I can listen to it via the iHeartRadio app on my phone. IMHO, the Windy City is the most Christmas-like large city in America, as it's a prime location for snow and very cold weather. What I wouldn't give to have one of those Chicago snow globes...but I digress.

When my dad was alive he always thought that some artists used to ruin popular Christmas songs just by adding a few words or especially when Gospel artists would extend a certain note and add their traditional ooh ooh to it. He would call them disrespecting God, but to me personally I think it ads their own signature to the song.

Just like adding an intro to a song or putting it part of a medley makes the listening to a song more enjoyable as it makes it interesting to see how each artist comes up with his or her own way to sing a popular song.

I hear this complaint frequently about the national anthem. "Oh say does that star-spangled ban-ner yet wave..." often becomes "ba-aa-anner" and people go crazy over it, saying it's disrespectful. Key didn't write the music, his poem was put to the tune of an old British drinking song.

Lightweights. At least wait until the New Year, even if you can't stomach Twelfth Night.

In my family, I grudgingly allow my wife to put the tree up on December 1—but you can bet your socks that we'll be putting it up ON the 1st and not a day later, because she's already itchy by the time Thanksgiving rolls around. We leave the house decorated and one present unopened until Epiphany, and on Epiphany we have a big family holiday dinner and open the remaining present. Then, after that, the decorations come down.

As for music, she knows to have the Christmas music turned off in the house by the time I get home, unless it's sufficiently close to Christmas and I've told her it's all right. I've started teaching my sons some Advent hymns (I grew up in a liturgical church but the church we attend is not like that) in the weeks leading up to Christmas, as well as Epiphany hymns on the 6th.

We have now decided to change our tradition. Because December 1 fell on a Saturday this year, we had a much more leisurely time of putting up and decorating the tree, even had to time to watch a movie when we were finished. So I decided that, moving forward, we'll decorate the tree on the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent. That date will range anywhere from November 26 to December 2, and it will always be either two or nine days after Thanksgiving. Plus, it makes religious sense to fix the date based on the church calendar.

I set Pandora to the 'Classic Choral Christmas' station, which was much more enjoyable than any of the pop or jazz mixes. Now that the decorations are done, I'm back to steering clear of Christmas music for a while. Fortunately, I've found that BOB FM is still playing their usual range of music.

That one's even more of a problem, as the place where Jesus was born never receives any snow.

Almost never. It snowed in Jerusalem and Bethlehem a few years ago and it caused a traffic apocalypse similar to what snow does to Atlanta.

I was going to say: according to Wikipedia, Bethlehem averages three days of snow per year: one each in December, January, and February. So it would be possible (although unlikely) that it snowed on the first Christmas.

It's high up, and while the Med (and Red?) is a warming influences in winter, it is a smaller body of water than an ocean, and Bethlehem isn't coastal so that effect is muted!

I didn't mention the supposed lack of snow (accumulation is rare, so "snow on snow on snow" needs something special) in Bethlehem, as my point was that London isn't currently a snowy city in December either!

What's worse is the abrupt end to Halloween. On November 1, the Christmas products start popping up in stores, and it's just like they jump into the season ASAP.

As for Christmas music on the radio, my preferred choice is still 93.9 in Chicago, and I can listen to it via the iHeartRadio app on my phone. IMHO, the Windy City is the most Christmas-like large city in America, as it's a prime location for snow and very cold weather. What I wouldn't give to have one of those Chicago snow globes...but I digress.

White Christmases were rare here when I was growing up, though we've had one or two since I moved back.

IMHO, the Windy City is the most Christmas-like large city in America, as it's a prime location for snow and very cold weather. What I wouldn't give to have one of those Chicago snow globes...but I digress.

IMHO, the Windy City is the most Christmas-like large city in America, as it's a prime location for snow and very cold weather. What I wouldn't give to have one of those Chicago snow globes...but I digress.

The Twin Cities glare hard at that assessment.

There are a lot of cities glaring at that assessment.Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and every other major city north of Chicago, just to name a few.

I'd have to quit. Or murder the boss. I can't take rap, and I can't take this modern country (I guess they call it "bro" country?")[/quote]

A previous place I worked at played country one morning, and rap the next afternoon. One week they accidentally played the shock jock station two days in a row. I went into a meltdown, and they fired me. I was seriously thinking of filing a sexual harassment complaint against them for the rap station. I can't shout at my boss the lyrics from the station, yet I was forced to listen to it. I did report them to ASCAP for playing music over an amplified system without a license, but it had no effect.

IMHO, the Windy City is the most Christmas-like large city in America, as it's a prime location for snow and very cold weather. What I wouldn't give to have one of those Chicago snow globes...but I digress.

The Twin Cities glare hard at that assessment.

I've only been to the Twin Cities on Christmas once without snow. Multiple times with several inches. A few years ago, it was a perfect white Christmas, with snow already on the ground and falling again on the evening of December 24. I believe that was the year it never got above 0°F during our entire trip from Wichita to Minnesota and back—until we crossed south from Iowa into Missouri, and then it crept just above 0°F. The morning of the 24th, it was -19°F.

I'd have to quit. Or murder the boss. I can't take rap, and I can't take this modern country (I guess they call it "bro" country?")

A previous place I worked at played country one morning, and rap the next afternoon. One week they accidentally played the shock jock station two days in a row. I went into a meltdown, and they fired me. I was seriously thinking of filing a sexual harassment complaint against them for the rap station. I can't shout at my boss the lyrics from the station, yet I was forced to listen to it. I did report them to ASCAP for playing music over an amplified system without a license, but it had no effect.

What line of work are you in that one has to listen to rap music... especially if such is of the hard-core variety?

Unless you work at a dance/night club; such a condition has sexual harassment/hostile work environment written all over it.

What line of work are you in that one has to listen to rap music... especially if such is of the hard-core variety?

Unless you work at a dance/night club; such a condition has sexual harassment/hostile work environment written all over it.

I said just that when the boss was indignant that I turned off the radio. I said, "This isn't a night club." And he replied, offended, "Night club!?"

Only slightly less worse than hearing the programming of rap stations is hearing the endless commercials on the radio. Clearly, radio is meant for people too stupid to figure out an iPod, and they can't go out of business soon enough for me.

I worked for years at a newspaper office in an old brick hotel building in a river valley town. The phone system was located under the stairs from the first floor lobby to the basement, and there was a radio plugged into the system to play music for people who were on hold. There weren't many stations to choose from due to poor reception given the location and the construction of the building, and the boss would not allow the local radio station to be aired because he considered them to be a competitor for advertising dollars. They kept it on WLAP, 94.5 out of Lexington, because it played relatively inoffensive pop music. I switched it to the former 98.1, WKQQ, which was an AOR/classic rock station. The boss didn't like that, not because he didn't like the music -- he did -- but he was afraid the rock music might offend some callers.

The boss didn't like that, not because he didn't like the music -- he did -- but he was afraid the rock music might offend some callers.

When I worked at an auto repair shop frequented by many senior citizens, the complaints of "the technician put it on a rock station" or (my favorite old-timey complaint) a "hot jazz station" were rather numerous. There would be at least one valet who cranked the volume up excessively, so I tried to inspect the car before delivery, if possible. We replaced a fair number of head units for bad amplifiers, jammed with homemade CDs, or just needing a new battery; most of the factory presets lined up with static or distant stations. Customers complained about that, too. When in doubt, I'd put it on classical.

On the other hand, the variety you'd hear coming from a busy service drive was akin to playing around in Grand Theft Auto...the roulette of sound was almost endless.

The boss didn't like that, not because he didn't like the music -- he did -- but he was afraid the rock music might offend some callers.

When I worked at an auto repair shop frequented by many senior citizens, the complaints of "the technician put it on a rock station" or (my favorite old-timey complaint) a "hot jazz station" were rather numerous. There would be at least one valet who cranked the volume up excessively, so I tried to inspect the car before delivery, if possible. We replaced a fair number of head units for bad amplifiers, jammed with homemade CDs, or just needing a new battery; most of the factory presets lined up with static or distant stations. Customers complained about that, too. When in doubt, I'd put it on classical.

On the other hand, the variety you'd hear coming from a busy service drive was akin to playing around in Grand Theft Auto...the roulette of sound was almost endless.

I'm pretty sure any time I've had service done on a car that required disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, it's been returned to me with the station on static.

The boss didn't like that, not because he didn't like the music -- he did -- but he was afraid the rock music might offend some callers.

When I worked at an auto repair shop frequented by many senior citizens, the complaints of "the technician put it on a rock station" or (my favorite old-timey complaint) a "hot jazz station" were rather numerous. There would be at least one valet who cranked the volume up excessively, so I tried to inspect the car before delivery, if possible. We replaced a fair number of head units for bad amplifiers, jammed with homemade CDs, or just needing a new battery; most of the factory presets lined up with static or distant stations. Customers complained about that, too. When in doubt, I'd put it on classical.

On the other hand, the variety you'd hear coming from a busy service drive was akin to playing around in Grand Theft Auto...the roulette of sound was almost endless.

I'm pretty sure any time I've had service done on a car that required disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, it's been returned to me with the station on static.

When David Puddy worked on mine, all the presets were switched to Christian rock.